Kittens!

So, this adorable stray has adopted my Mom. Turned out that the stray(now named Jezebel, and not much more than a kitten herself) was pregnant. And Mom, being almost as much a sucker for pathetic animals as I am(ok, fine, she's no where close to the sucker I am when it comes to animals, but moving on...) The babies ended up being born under Mom's bed.

Two tiny, soft little kittens who turn 2 weeks old tomorrow. Wren is seriously perplexed at why we would want to pay attention to these things when we could be paying attention to her, and Jezebel is suspicious of Wren's motives for investigating her babies.

Another fascinating day at home, har, har :P

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

So this mobile thing...

So, after purchasing my very first cell phone(I resisted as long as I could, I really did!) I rapidly abandoned the real computer for my oh-so-fancy phone(with internet, of course) for almost every purpose. This is evident in my neglect of my blog, and the rapidity with which I now respond to emails, among other things. Soo, why not try blogging from my phone? Sounds like a good idea to me, let's see how it turns out :-)

Yes, VBS roxors

Last week was VBS, and, unsurprisingly, I chose to teach the pre-K class. I had 17 kids(between the ages of 2 and 6) and two helpers...We did all the usual VBS things....


....singing.....


.....games.....


...and, of course, snack!
It was great fun for all involved, though having gone straight to my grandparents' on Friday(more on that later) and having only just got home, I am, quite simply, pooped! *yawns* Time for bed!!

Overwhelming cuteness. Also Danger. And chocolate.

So, I officially have the cutest dog in the world.



I just needed to clear up that crucial point!

Also. I wanted to share some danger with you. I found this amazing recipe-single serving chocolate cake, five minutes and you're ready to eat, with only a mug, a tablespoon measure, and a fork to wash!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
tiny pinch salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.(I usually
just eat it out of the mug)

Yes, I do know I'm evil. But I also know you totally wanna try it ;-)

(So, Mom, do I get a pony now?)

And the moral is...?

In the words of a friend, the lesson here is "don't do drugs"

One man's trash...

So...why would I be excited about being given a box full of rotten fruit...tomatoes, cherries, corn and a cantaloupe? Well, it's dinner, of course :-D Dinner for the chickens.

Here are my dozen lovely hens in their yard, enjoying the bounty. Cantaloupe is a greatly favoured chicken delicacy, and, as such, both halves were pecked clean in minutes. After they had eaten their fill they all lounged in the sun, dustbathing and napping and doing other chickeny things. I went out to visit with them and my lap was filled with more than the usual amount of chickens vying for a bit of a backrub(they love having that bit between their wings and up by their neck rubbed) Happy chickens!

Now that I have a laying flock, I think I need a breeding flock.....

Of Dogs and Duty

Oh yes, I'm neglectful, I know...I haven't updated in almost a month!

My online life has been consumed, though, by the search for a dog. Yes, I am dorky enough that that has consumed my life.

See, when I was 10, I helped out at the house of a friend of Mom's who bred Jack Russell Terriers. No backyard breeder either, she's one of the top Jack Russell breeders in the country. Long story short, I developed a very strong bond with a particular dog, Yikes!(the ! is part of his name) and he ended up being my birthday present that year(she was happy to see him go, too, as he was somewhat deformed, and had every fault possible for a JRT). He grew up with me, and helped me through some of the hardest times of my life. He was my best friend, my baby, everything. Unfortunately, I had to put him to sleep this past summer, and I assure you it was the hardest thing I have ever done. It tore me up.

Well, now I'm at the stage of grieving where I need another dog, hence the search. I decided that I wanted a small dog, no more than 30 lbs. And female. And I think I found her, too!

Isn't she adorable? She's a Papillon whose ears never went up(in my opinion that makes her cuter) Some say that would make her a Phalene(A breed of dog that is essentially a Papillon with ears that go down instead of up), but no organization would register her as such, because of her Papillon parentage. Which doesn't matter to me, as I'm only looking for a pet. I do have to wait almost a month to get her, but I'm filling the time by knitting dog sweaters(3 1/2, completed as of this moment)

Though, I need to figure out a name for her, and it's very hard, finding the perfect one. Any ideas?

Ohmigosh!

I seriously need to try to chart this out....

(this picture was taken from a thread on the "Mr Rogers Sweater Day" group on Ravelry, and is a picture of a sweater that someone called Norwegian Star custom Knitting knits to sell. too rich for my blood, for sure....)

Evolution.....

I love fiber....it's like magic! First you take some hair, wash and comb it, and add some colours, and it looks like this!
Then you pull and twist it, ad double it back on itself and you get this...All ready turned into something by waving a couple of sticks around! Well, I think it's magical.

Also, French revolution=Teh Interesting! It combines so many of my favourite historical things(Les Mis, Sharpe, Jane Austen) so i'm predisposed to like it, but after watching the Marie Antoinette movie(yes, I know it's not historically accurate) and a documentary on the French Revolution, I gotta say I'm almost as hooked as I am on Les Mis, Sharpe, or Jane Austen.

Though, you must be sure to notice the "almost" ;-)

Soupitty soup....

Well....today felt like a soup making day. A cold, snowy and boring day. So I made soup. Chicken-rice soup, out of most of a chicken left in the fridge.
It looks very pretty. I have no idea how it tastes, cause i'm vegetarian, but we'll see when other people try it. I cooled some off and gave it to the dog, but he's not picky at all, and he can't give me any feedback. So I can't tell from his reaction.

Oh yes. And Church. Tonight is Pizza Rolls.
They're my special pizza dough recipe, wrapped around some tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and pepperoni(Usually I make them sans pepperoni, but if I make them with pepperoni, i'm not tempted to eat them) Again. Dunno how they taste, but as my previous pizza rolls have been good, and I made calzones from this same batch of dough yesterday that were very good, I think I can safely assume that these are good as well.